Mineral Foundation of Goa has been engaged in the sector of Solid Waste Management (SWM) since year 2010. The work that began with 1 village with 168 households, today has spread to 30 panchayats, 3 Municipal Council and 1 City Corporation covering over 3.5 lakh population. Our work includes awareness, training, capacity building of communities and local governing body functionaries to effectively tackle the issue of solid waste including hand holding and technical support to put systems in place that are practical and cost effective. We work closely with the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) and the Department of Municipal Administration (DMA) and our work has gained us the recognition of Technical Support Unit from the Directorate of Panchayat. Two of the Panchayat V.P. Surla and V.P. Velguem that we supported are the first to draft their Waste Management Plan that is approved by the respective Gram Sabhas. This initiative now has become a mandate for the Govt through the GWMC. Through the project we have been able to put together management strategy for dry waste for the city of Panjim, the Capital city of Goa.

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This project also has an important agenda of mainstreaming the waste pickers that work in the informal sector through opening of bank accounts linkage with insurance and other government schemes and ensure that the safai sathis and their families live a dignified life. The project has developed partnership with the Plastic Waste Management Programme of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) & Godrej Consumer Products Pvt. Ltd (GCPL) for the Goa state.